Animated Reality
by mnmonroe
Summary: He was every woman's fantasy; he was the animated hero Kakashi. And Miranda found him snoring away in her video rental store. She knew he must be a wacky anime fan out to win a Kakashi look-alike contest. But the passion he ignited in her was all to real.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

She appeared in a glittering column of snow. Her long white skirts floated about her as she came towards him in the indigo night. She was a creature of the vast ice fields.

Beautiful. Sensuous. Alluring.

He stood frozen in place and watched her, his body numb in the icy wind despite the heavy furs he wore. His mind refused to believe what his eyes saw and his body craved. Golden hair, like a close-fitting cap, hugged her head. Sinuous movements of her arms beckoned him near. Ribbons of silvery fabric streamed behind her as she lifted her arms to him.

With a quick turn of his head he scanned the horizon. The ice fields stretched unbroken in the moonglow save for a few treacherous red rocks that pierced the snow and tripped the unwary foot. He rubbed his gloved hands over his cloth covered face.

Reluctantly, he turned east again to the beguiling ice woman. A new fear, fear that he had lost his mind, joined with an older fear that he might not survive this formidable land. He drew a deep, steadying breath and caught a hint of summer flowers along with the scent of ageless ice.

She waited in silence, many yards away, and raised her hands to him again. He obeyed her summons without thought, mesmerized by her, unable to resist.

The thick snow crust crunched beneath his boots. The wind rose in a mournful ululation as it lifted her sheer gown and twisted it against her body. The fabric traced her lush shape, her full, womanly curves.

A man might warm himself in her embrace.

He pictured her lying naked on his furs, arms open in invitation as they were now, welcoming him. The enticing vision tumbled about in his head. He tried to grasp the warm thoughts, but his mind stumbled along with his feet.

A shriek of wind jerked him back to his path and his goal. The woman blurred a moment before his eyes, then became sharp-edged. Touches of her femininity appeared and disappeared in the eddies of her swirling gown. A sweat flushed his skin beneath the layers of his clothing.

For moments he staggered forward, drawing no closer to her. Touching her became imperative, necessary, as necessary as drawing the chill air into his lungs. He imagined her kiss. Her lips would be full and ripe and gleaming with moisture, as if she had just licked them. He imagined that her taste would heat his blood. He craved the warmth of her body, the intoxication of her scent, the comfort of her long white arms.

He stepped into her embrace and clasped…nothing.

He howled at the pain of it, clenched his fists, and fell to his knees. Around him lay nothing but vast empty space. A blast of raw wind cut his cheeks and harrowed his spirit. With little will to go forward, he knelt, his head hanging down, and cursed the gods.

How smooth and slick and beautiful the world had looked when he'd begun his journey. He had lost count of the sunrisings. Three? Four? Seven? His body yearned for sleep. Clumsy with cold and fatigue, he fell to his side. A sudden stab of pain tore at his cheek and burned like fire up his face to his eye. The flames of pain defied and mocked the cold.

A wounded-animal sound echoed in the empty expanse of wasteland. Had the sound come from him? Struggling on limbs that repeatedly refused to obey, he staggered upright, ashamed of his lapse.

There at his feet gleamed a bright red gem. It glittered against the icy white moonglow. As he watched, more gems appeared. They bounced and rolled away, scattering in the snow. With shaking hands he tore off his gloves and reached for one that lay alone, perfectly round and gleaming. The numb tips of his fingers were clumsy as he tried to lift the fine jewel. It burst and became blood, running between his fingers.

His blood.

Another bright red drop fell to the ice, congealed, and was magically transformed into another gleaming gem. He dashed the drop away with an angry sweep of his hand. More appeared, but he understood now and would not be tricked again.

Relentlessly, he trudged along, too tried to take his direction from the moon overhead.

Why was he crossing this merciless field of ice?

For love. For the love of a friend more a sister than any woman of blood family could be. For a bond more precious than that with a lover.

His strength waned, he found himself standing and staring at the moon.

He kept moving through ice fields that no ninja dared to cross. For without his friend, honor was all he had. He had no family, no illustrious ancestors, no wife waiting dutifully for his return.

Finally, he conceded the ice to be the victor, the cold a merciless conquer, impervious to a ninja's will. With regret, he fell to his knees and scrabbled in his furs for the stone he carried close to his heart.

He tried in vain to rise, but his legs no longer obeyed. "What more do you demand?" He asked the heavens, fist clenched. Try as he might, his strength was gone. As was the stone.

And lost was his desire to go on.

He would not fulfill his quest.

Dignity demanded he not collapse cravenly but meet his fate with his face to the heavens. The moon beckoned overhead. He liked to think it was watching over him and would ease his passage from this life to the next.

"I failed," he whispered. His eyes drifted closed. Thunder rumbled in the distance. Lighting streaked across the barren horizion.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Miranda Richardson twirled across the ballroom floor, spinning and laughing. She came to a halt before a young man who had entered the Ocean City Music Pier's ballroom in a blast of rain and salt-laden wind. "Neil, my _Naruto_ ball is going to be a real winner."

Thunder echoed across the cavernous room.

"Only if this storm doesn't close the bridges and keep everyone at home," he said, and handed her a foam coffee cup.

"Pessimist." She took a swallow, then threw out her hand toward the long row of floor-to-ceiling windows. "The weatherman said the brunt of the storm is going to miss us."

"If you say so." He dug her sneakers from under a chair and held them out.

Miranda ignored them and gulped her coffee. She peered from one of the tall windows. The two-mile long Ocean City boardwalk had only a few piers extending out into the ocean. The music Pier was one of them. Glowering clouds and intermittent burst of rain obscured the view. The radio had predicted that the storm would move east and miss their small coastal island, which lay midway between the bright lights of Atlantic City and the Victorian charm of Cape May. She hoped the meteorologists were right. "Don't you feel like we're on a ship right out in the ocean?"

"Maybe the _Titantic_? Only the iceberg's here."

"Don't say things like that!" She bit her lip. Maybe the weather _would_ ruin the ball and all her work.

He touched her on the shoulder. "Don't worry ; this old place has taken hammering since 1928. I don't think one small nor'easter is going to knock it down. And the tickets are sold. It'll be standing room only in here tonight-storm or no storm." He moved about the ballroom, gathering assorted litter from her decorating efforts and stuffing it into a trash bag.

"Come on, Neil. I need your honest opinion. Does this look like Konoha's Hokage office or not?"

She held her breath. Neil Scott examined the ballroom, hands on his hips. Water dripped off his ancient black leather jacket and beaded in his short dark hair. Miranda noticed circles etched beneath his eyes.

"I feel like I'm in the middle of Konoha. Relax. You've recreated the village." He grinned. The sudden smile wiped away the biker-from-hell look and hinted at the handsome man he might be if he got enough sleep. "You should do stage design," he said. "It looks great. Even if Konoha villager showed up, he'd be impressed."

"Really?" She skidded along the polished floor in her socks and adjusted one of the drapes that gave the impression of a mountain. "I've spent a fortune on all this. And wait till you see my gown."

"I draw the line at fashion commentary." He bent and retrieved the remnants of silver streamers and tossed them into the trash bag.

"But I could use a guy opinion. I made it myself, you know. I hand-painted each layer of white silk with seven shades of white and silver. I hand-stitched the silver sleeve ribbion-"

"Enough. This really more information than I need."

Miranda scooped up a handful of artificial snow and threw it at him. It clung to his shoulders and hair. "What's wrong? Up too late with your coven?" He took off his jacket and shook off the snowflakes. A snake tattoo slithered around his upper arm, just showing at the sleeve edge of his T-shirt.

Perhaps prompted by the angry gray sky outside, Neil was garbed all in black. Daggers and skulls hung from one pierced ear. Miranda never minded Neil's many personas. He was just as likely to appear at the video rental shop they owned together in a white shirt and a tie. H worked hard, was always on time, and did grunt work without complaint. He was the perfect business partner.

On the front of his black T-shirt, a hideous skeleton wielded a lacrosse stick. Neil had once been a star attack player for Johns Hopkins. These days he attacked nothing more challenging than cardboard boxes that needed to be broken down for the recycling bin, his weapon a utility knife.

"Are you finished in here?" He pulled his jacket back on.

She nodded and took a last look around the room. "All that needs to be done is putting out the food."

They ran the two blocks on wet, slippery wooden boards. Her store stood in the nearly unbroken row of shops that graced the northern end of the two miles of Ocean City's boardwalk. Wind gusted from all directions. Rain fell in sheets. The Atlantic Ocean hammered the boards with savage pleasure. On the horizon, lightning flickered.

"Should there be lightning in November?" She said in a gasp, out of breath. "What if there's a power failure?"

She cast a longing glance up to the apartment she rented over her shop. She'd left a light on. It splashed a yellow glow over the small balcony fronting the apartment. She resisted the urge to go back to her warm, snug bed. Fatigue was creeping in. She'd started her decorating at dawn, and now, even though it was still early in the morning, she wanted to crawl into her bed and sleep the rest of the day away.

"If the power fails, you're cooked." He ducked under the awning over their shop door.

Miranda saw his half-hidden grin and turned the key with a jerk. "I get it. I'm obsessing. You're the pessimist and I'm the optimist. Okay. The ball will be a huge success, written up in anime magazines all over the world, the extra ten pounds I gained this summer will be adequately hidden under my flowing..." Neil dragged a finger across his throat. "Never mind," she finished.

Once inside, she punched in the code to turn off the security alarm. Neil flipped several switches, and the light flooded the shop. She tossed her raincoat behind the service counter.

Neil scooped up a white envelope that lay on the rubber mat by the front door and placed it on the counter. He slipped a CD into the boom box sitting next to the cash register. She winced as Mozart's "Jupiter Symphony" filled the shop. "Jeez," she called to him. "Do we have to listen to that stuff so early in the morning?"

Neil didn't answer. Perhaps he hadn't heard her over the music. She smiled. More likely he was ignoring her. She guessed she'd pushed him over the edge with her Naruto ball worries. He shrugged out of his jacket and began to open cardboard cartons.

Miranda set up the cash register for the day. Usually she opened her shop only on weekends in November, but this was the week of Anime convention in nearby Atlantic City. She lifted the wastebasket and sniffed. "This place smells like wet wool." She glanced overhead. 'Could there be a leak somewhere?"

A sharp rap on the window glass made Miranda whip around. "Oh dear." She waved Neil off and went to the door. She opened it scant inch. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Hill. Were not open yet. Not until ten o'clock." She pointed to her watch, which said nine. She needed all her strength to pull her shop door firmly shut on the woman swathed in a rain coat, who flapped a twenty in her face. With a sigh a decisive turn of her key, Miranda locked the door.

"I'll take out the trash. Maybe that will take care of the smell," Neil propped the back door open and gathered up several plastic bags.

Miranda grabbed the vacuum cleaner and dragged it across the shop. She gave the Naruto posters an affection pat on the way past. Women and Men flocked the shop to watch the newly released episodes of Naruto.

She stepped into the entrance of a freestanding video chamber that was housing the recent episode of Naruto. It was a formed of four matte black walls.

The classical music rose to a crescendo behind her, making something else, something close and furtive. A rustle. A soft, mousy sound that tickled her spine with apprehension and froze her fingers on the light switch. Miranda tiptoed farther into the video room and flicked the switch. Light filled the chamber.

A polar bear was her fist thought. A huge, dirty polar bear lay sprawled in her video chamber, filling the space with its body and wet-animal scent.

With a scream in her throat. Miranda turned, tripped over her vacuum, and ran. She skidded on the smooth carpet and lunged out the back door.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Rain pounded the wooden boards of the back steps. Wind lashed cold drops against her face. Salty air and low-tide smells choked her as she gasped for breath and fought the panic that welled within her.

Lightening pierced the sky. Neil stood next to the trash dumpsters, black against black, and frowned at her.

Miranda felt suddenly foolish. The back parking lot held only her car, the trash containers, and Neil. "What is it?" he called. Water lapped over the sidewalks and gushed in gutters.

"I-I-I heard something." She rubbed her cold hands on her arms. Her fleece top and jeans were getting soaked.

Neil bounded up the steps two at a time. "What?"

"In the video room." She omitted what she'd seen. Together they went back into the shop. As they entered, she caught a whiff of sweat. It under laid the wet-animal scent as well as the salt and sand smell that were such a part of the shore community that they went unremarked.

Miranda held up a hand to Neil for silence. Not far from her front door, the Atlantic Ocean snarled. Wind rose and fell with a whine. Nothing else stirred. She tiptoed to her counter and pulled out a long metal bar that was supposed to be locked onto her car's steering wheel. She just couldn't remember to use it. As she brandished it like a sword, she slipped cautiously into the video room. Neil was right at her elbow.

Miranda took a deep breath, poked the bar around the curved wall, and followed slowly after.

Neil shoved past her and stood with his hands on his hips. With his work boot, Neil prodded the mountain of fur that lay on the floor.

Miranda relaxed at Neil's apparent unconcern. After all, she thought, polar bears did not wear boots.

Neil gave the lump a harder kick. "Yo, bud. Up and outta here." The small mountain didn't move. "Should I call the cops?"

Miranda frowned. _And say what? " A polar bear in boots is snoozing in our shop." _Now that Neil had demonstrated the thing's harmlessness, she grew brave and made a few fencing moves at the mountain. She prodded and poked and circled.

"Or maybe we should call the exterminator." Neil bent over, hands on his knees. "Come on, bud. This isn't the Seaview Motel."

The offended anime fan shifted. Miranda squeaked and danced away. The disgusted look Neil aimed at her made her straighten up and justify herself. "Well, it moved." She feigned nonchalance, but she did not lower her "sword."

While Neil cajoled, Miranda took in the small details. Dirty fur, like a matted bath rug, swathed the figure from head to toe. Boldly, Miranda poked the pile again.

Nothing happened. She prodded the flat, scuffed sole of one boot. The mountain abruptly shuddered. Miranda jerked away, her back coming up against the wall. The pile shifted and rolled. It then flopped back like a beached whale and snored-a decidedly loud snore.

"Sound asleep," she whispered in disgust.

"Maybe drunk," Neil whispered back.

"At this time of morning?" Miranda held the metal bar in both hands, ready to whack the man if he stood up.

"He probably sneaked over from Atlantic City." Neil reached down and dragged the furs open. "How the hell'd he get in here, anyway?"

Miranda dropped her bar. She hated it when Neil was right. Under the furs, the man was dressed like a Konoha ninja. Costumes were conceder normal at the convention as well as at the ball scheduled for tonight." He'd win any prize in any look-alike contest for Kakashi wouldn't he?" she asked.

Neil grunted. "Not unless he'd take a bath before final judging." Then he frowned. "Did you forget to check the back door last night?" His implied "again" didn't need to be said.

She winced and busied herself examining the man. He opened his one uncovered eye. "Come…warm…me."

Miranda found herself staring. His one eye was gray, his voice was low and seductive. His eye fluttered closed. A smile curved beneath his mask.

"Oh, great. A rude Kakashi impersonator," Miranda muttered. "What should we do with him?"

Neil scratched his chin. "I don't know. If you call the cops he might get thrown in jail."

"Anime fans are not criminals," she said.

"You're right. They also spend tons of money in shops like ours."

The man rolled his head and snorted like a large boar. It was then that Miranda noticed a long gash. Dried blood matted the front of his furs. "Oh, Neil, he's hurt." She dropped to her knees at the man's side. "And he's really dirty. It's his fur coat that we're smelling. He must've swiped it from a bear. A wet, muddy bear." She wrinkled her nose in disgust.

She reached out cautiously and touched the man's shirt. Heat zinged up her arm. She snatched her hand back. As if his body had become aware of his surroundings, the man began to shiver. He tucked his hands into his armpits and curled onto his side. The small chamber once again filled with his harsh, growling snores.

"We could at least clean his cut," she said. Neil frowned. "He's shaking; he must be cold. Shouldn't we at least get him upstairs? I could clean his cut."

"Yeah, I guess we don't need him lying here when we open up."

"Rin?" The man whispered. His eyes remained closed, but his hand groped toward her.

Involuntarily, she took it. He shivered. His hand was hot- feverishly hot. While she held it, the heat seemed to flow up her arm. The hair on her nape stirred. With difficulty, she extracted her hand from his grip.

She stripped the furs open all the way down the man's body. The garment revealed itself to be a long fur parka with a deep hood. The man's dirty, matted hair lay plastered against his skull- it could be any color from pale blond to silver. "This might be the guy the agency hired for my ball, Neil."

The man's breath whistled through his nose.

"Looking like this?" Neil shook his head. "Let's call the police instead."

In her mind's eye, Miranda saw herself locking the back door and checking it. "I know I didn't leave the door open. I just know it."

"Then he sneaked in while we were busy with customers yesterday and hid in the bathroom. No, that's ludicrous. How could a guy this big sneak past us?"

"Regardless of how he got into the shop, we can't leave him lying on the cold floor. And if he is from the agency, I can't exactly turn him over to the police either. The agency would never supply another event for me." No matter how imprudent it might be, she decided to help the stranger. She rose to her feet. "Let's get him upstairs to my apartment."

"Are you sure?" Neil asked. "He could be dangerous. He was reckless enough to break in here."

Miranda took one more look at the man. "You know, Neil, I think he just needed somewhere to sleep. Maybe he was broke and couldn't afford a hotel room." She put her hand on his forehead. It was cool. She grabbed his arm. The same zing of heat pulsed through her hands, but this time she ignored it.

Neil jammed his hands on his hips. "Are you sure?"

She tugged and pulled. The man did not budge. "I'm sure. After all, the ball's tonight. What's a few hours? Come on. Help me."

As Neil continued to catalog his protest they hefted the man to a sitting position. "Yikes," Miranda said with a gasp, "he's a deadweight."

"Smells dead too," Neil quipped.

The man's eyes rolled in his head, and then seemed to focus on them. "I was…not…quitting. I was just…resting," he said through his mask.

"Anything you say." Miranda grabbed one arm, while Neil grabbed the other. After several false starts, they succeeded in hauling the man to his feet and propping him against the wall.

"I'll unlock the back door to your apartment." Neil dashed from the room, leaving Miranda in sole possession of a very large male.

Her hands planted in the center of his chest, Miranda took a deep breath and staggered as the man's weight sagged forward. "Hurry, Neil, he's heavy," she shouted, looking up at the man who now towered over her small frame. He began to list to the side. "And huge!" She wrapped her arms around his waist.

The man opened his eyes and stared down at her. Miranda could not have looked away if ordered. His bewitching eye swept over her face and hair.

"I dreamed of you." His hands stroked up the column of her spine. His long fingers slid along her neck.

Hurry, Neil, she thought as the slow caress of his fingers wandered to the hair at her nape. The zing had settled to a warmth that flooded her system.

"You disappeared." He closed his eye and began to slide. She accepted the inevitable and tried to ease his collapse to the floor. He fell to his knees, his arms loosely clasped about her waist.

He nuzzled his face against the soft fleece of her top and sighed. In moments he was snoring again.

Miranda buried her hands in his matted hair and pulled his head back. His one eye fluttered open. She swallowed hard.

"I dreamed of you. Your…taste. Your scent." His hands moved over her hips. Heat pooled where his hands journeyed.

Drunk Kakashi wanna-be, he was providing an unwanted reminder of how a man's hands felt on a woman's body. His hands stroked down her legs.

He gasped.

His fingers gripped her tightly just above the knees and shoved. She squealed at the pain and landed on her bottom.

He lurched to his feet, stumbled backward, and gripped the wall. He swayed and stared down at her.

An expression of confusion crossed his cloth covered face. The cut on his stomach oozed bright red blood. Disbelief filled his voice. "You are a boy!"

Author's Note:Review me please. A few fixes have been applied.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: Sorry it been awhile since I've updated. Hopefully this chapter makes up for it.

Chapter 4:

"I'm not a boy!" Miranda stifled a laugh. Then heat swept up her face. Maybe it wasn't so funny to be mistaken for a boy. She scrambled to her feet. "Who the heck are you? How'd you get into my shop?"

"Shop?" The man's body tensed. He swept a trembling hand across his brow.

A wave of sympathy made her soften her voice. "Yes," Miranda said, "my shop. How'd you get in here? Who are you?"

"I crossed the ice fields?" It was a question.

Miranda sighed. He was going to act out the part to which he'd dressed. He was definitely into _Naruto_. "Yes, Yes," she said, playing along. "You've crossed the ice fields. You're in Ocean City, now."

"Ocean…?"

She pressed her lips together to remain as serious as he was. "Yes, that's the one. Now, who are you?"

He straightened to his full height and stared down his perfectly covered nose at her. " Hayate Kakashi."

Of course. If she looked so much like the ninja from Naruto, she call herself Kakashi, too. "Okay, Kakashi. How'd you get in here?"

A look of real consternation settled on what she could see of his face. "I do not remember." He staggered. His hand shot out for the wall.

"Uh, Miranda?" Neil spoke from the entrance to the room. "You're back door's unlocked, but Mrs. Hill and some friends are lined up out front."

"Miranda?" The man said her name very distinctly. In fact, he sounded as though he belonged on the public television station, maybe in one of those British mysteries she watched on Thursdays nights.

"Come on." She tugged at the man's arm. "Let's get you out of here. If the women outside see you, they'll strip you naked in a minute."

A look of sheer terror crossed the man's face. Miranda grinned. "Yep. Less than a minute. Maybe ten seconds." He scooped up his fur parka. She wrinkled her nose. "You'd better get your coat to the cleaners pronto."

He swayed. His hand settled heavily on her shoulder. Slowly he removed it and forced himself upright. "Forgive me."

He felt as weak as a spring lamb. He took a cautious step. Then another. At the doorway he staggered. Lights and sounds and smells assaulted him. Drums pulsed and beat in his head. Pain shot from one side of his skull to the other. Bright colors burned his eyes. He bumped into a table. A slither and clatter of glittering objects made him jump. A man grabbed him. He pulled away.

The man in black, had no visible weapons, but this was the land beyond the ice fields. Kakashi did not know what laws applied here, nor what enemies he might encounter. Legends told of strange people, strange customs, and stranger weapons to be found if one could cross the ice fields.

He went on guard. His burning eyes swept the long chamber he'd entered. Colors warred with light bouncing off glossy surfaces. Nothing looked familiar. Glass windows, impossibly large and clear, ran with rain. In sharp contrast to the room, the world outside looked strangely washed of color. He stifled a moan as the pain in his head rose with the crashing sounds that pulsed through the chamber: drums and cymbals. They came from nowhere and everywhere at once.

Kakashi forced himself to concentrate on where the immediate danger lay: the dark-haired man. He gripped the hilt on his kunai. The blade was sharp enough to kill if need be. His blurry vision settled on the symbol on the dark one's shirt. A death's-head, wielding a strange weapon.

The little female jerked him from his thoughts. "Kakashi meet Neil. Neil meet Kakashi. Kakashi's a little under the weather." The woman touched the snake man on the shoulder. "Do you mind getting the shop ready while I take him upstairs?"

Unbelievably, the snake man nodded and silently went to stand behind a long table. Kakashi watched warily, but the man made no threatening moves.

He closed his eyes and groaned. A sharp blade of pain twisted through his skull. He could not let it gain control of him. He opened his eyes and sought the only familiar thing in his sight-the woman.

She stood in a rear doorway, held out her hand, and beckoned him to the strange gray world outside-a world with the comforting scent of the sea.

She had beckoned before, called him to her. His bone deep fatigue warred with the hot pulse of desire that surged through him. The ice woman had invaded his dreams-and his reality. The image of her seemed burned in his mind. The woman before him could not be her. He raked the boyish female with his gaze from golden-capped head to blue-clad legs.

The wind pressed her strange garments against her body. How could he have ever doubted she was a woman? In his mind, her garments dissolved into white gossamer robes draping lush female curves.

Kakashi concentrated on the pain behind his eyes and followed her. He had no time to study his surroundings. The woman held open another door but a step from her shop. He had no strength to do more than follow her up a narrow set of stairs.

It took most of his remaining concentration to ignore the woman's buttocks in the tight breeches as she climbed the stairs before him. His thigh muscles ached with fatigue from the endless time of trekking across the ice.

At the top of the stairs she opened another door and stood back so he could enter. The chamber was long and narrow. A thin rug covered the center of a wooden floor. The only furniture was a tall wooden cupboard, a padded bench with a high back, and several straight-backed chairs about a round table. All looked old.

"Sit down. Relax."

He ignored her invitation and paced the long room. The ceiling was low. It would be hard to fight in such a space. The two doors led from her chamber. One, amazingly made of glass, faced a small balcony and the gray world outside. He rubbed his eyes. Even the roiling waves were gray. They should be dark purple in a storm such as this one. Staring at the dazzling white ice fields must have damaged his eye. Slowly he moved close to the glass door. It looked pathetically weak, the glass fragile and thin. He could be through it in an instant and gone, should danger threaten.

"Where do those doors lead?" He pointed to far end of the chamber.

"My bedroom and the bathroom." She flitted about grabbing the scattered colorful rags from the padded bench.

The woman then came near. Her flowery scent came with her. He shook his head.

"Why don't you sit down and explain to me how you got into my shop? Are you here for the war conference?"

Kakashi stiffened. Her words confused him. "War? Conference?" A conference meant discussion. A war conference meant planning and strategy- and other warriors. "What conference?"

"The pretend one in Atlantic City."

The wan light from the glass door gleamed off her short cap of hair. "Why are you disguised as a boy?"

"Why are you disguised as a ninja?"

He sneered. " I_ am_ a ninja."

"You stink, you know?" She wagged a finger at him. He felt chastised and ashamed. Never in his life had he been accused of uncleanness. Never had his skin crawled so with the urge to scratch. "There are no bathhouses on the ice fields," he spit back.

She giggled. The sound, lighthearted and sweet, sent a shiver down his spine. Her amusement annoyed him. She bent her head- to hide a smile, he suspected. Indignation overshadowed his pain. When she looked up, the smile she gave him was kind, not mocking.

Boldly she met his eyes. "Could I fix the cut on your cheek?"

'No," he snapped.

"Have it your way." She shrugged and bit her lip.

He regretted his abruptness, but something warned him to maintain a distance from this unusual female. His stomach shamed him by growling loudly in the silence that followed his words.

She shot to her feet. "You're hungry."

End Note: Review me please!


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: Wow I only written a few chapters so far and having so many reviews is awesome. I would like to personally like to thank Kikyo-Houkiboshi, ArtemisFowl'sGirl09, DCI Keller, Kuarahy, neoko-chan, YamiKitsuneKami, Jak, Jacqueline V.,and THE Night Yagami. I hope you all enjoy this long coming chapter. I know I'm sorry I haven't update in while but hopefully this chapter makes up for it. If you not review me that okay I still love to hear from you. Anyway until next time enjoy. mnmonroe

Chapter 5:

Miranda heard the jets come on in the bathroom. "I guess warriors like whirlpool." she muttered. She lifted her exboyfriend's worn green velour robe from the hook on the back of the bathroom door. It was one of the few articles of his clothing she hadn't donated to charity. As she approached the bathroom door she heard an omious bellow and a huge splash. She flung open the door. The man lay submerged in suds.

He floundered indignantly to his feet. Bubbles covered him from shoulder to thigh. Her mouth hung open. Then she realized what he'd done. She shrieked and pointed to the controls. "Off. Turn it off. You'll gum up the works. Turn it off!" Frantically, the man twisted the controls. The jets fell silent. "No," she mouthed as he turned one final knob. In a blast of water, the shower overhead washed him clean. She cleared her throat. The robe dropped from her hand. "Well, you're definitely a boy."

"Unless you are offering you services to clean the floor, woman, I suggest you leave." Kakashi stepped over the side of the tub. His foot slipped in the slick mess of water and suds. He skidded across the room, his arms flailing.

Miranda thought of a hockey goalie stretching for a save. She'd never again be able to attend a Flyers game without picturing the players naked. There was something quite magnificent about a well-honed man in motion.

Any motion.

He righted himself and reached for his furs. His biceps were perfectly formed and dewy white. Then light glinted off the long blade in his hand.

"Oh my god," she said with a gasp. Her throat dried. Then the man lifted one of the towels and wiped the blade. "Water plays havoc on steel," he said. She remembered to breathe when he turned away and inspected the kunai more thoroughly. Tension flooded through her again as he swung back to poke the sodden mass.

"Put the sword down." She hated the tremor in her voice.

Puddles of soap and water slowly crept in her direction. They would soon soak the robe she'd brought for him, but she couldn't make herself move.

His kunai was pointed towards the floor, he came to her. "It's a kunai," he smiled slyly then contiuned, " I wish you no harm."

How she wished she believed him. He was too big and too near- and way too naked. His steady gaze held her frozen in place. The touch of his fingers to her cheek was gentle, but she could not stop herself from flinching.

"A warrior must think of his weapons first, and tis naught but a small weapon afterall. Nothing to be afraid of, woman." her head bobbed in assent, but she took a step away from him, then another. He bent and lifted the robe. It was heavy and soft. A floral scent clung to the fabric. His body responded.

With as much disdain as possible, he donned the robe. Still, she stood in the door as if ready to flee. Her alert blue eyes were huge in her face. Her fear insulted him. He never harmed an unarmed female in his life.

Shaking out a white cloth, he once again lifted his blade. He began to stroke the cloth up and down its length. "Unless you wish to polish my other sword woman, be gone."

She flitted away. A cold breeze replaced her.

A commotion brought him from the bathing chamber, dripping a trail of water from his furs. So.. she had feared him enough to fetch the snake man. The woman half hid behind her champion and prattled something about his knife.

"By the gods, woman! Are you so spineless you quail at a small blade?" Keeping one eye on the snake man, he heaved his cloak onto her table.

Her shriek burned his ears.

"How dare you! That was my mother's table. She loved that table. I learned to write at that table." Before he could stop her, she dragged his cloak off the battered wood and, after twisting and turning the silver knob on the glass door, heaved the furs out like so much refuse to be discarded.

He shoved the snake man aside. The man went down like a sack of feathers. kakashi leaped to the deck and snatched up his furs. He clasped them to his chest. Anger warred with compassion. The woman was scrubbing the water from her scarred table. He knew well the value of ancestors. As an orphan after his fathers death, he had no mother's table to preserve.

The snake man picked himself up off the floor. "Get downstairs, Miranda. Call the cops." He spread his arms to protect the woman.

Wind whipped at Kakshi's robe and tore at his hair. It thrummed like the wings of a thousand ravens about his ears. Kakashi considered how best to handle her protector without hurting him or offending her further.

Miranda giggled. Her Kakashi look-alike pushed through the deck door, struggling a moment. He looked ridiculous. The robe came only to mid-calf on him. The ocean winds flapped it about his legs and threatened to once again reveal a tantalizing length of muscled thigh-and other important stuff.

Somehow she could not be afraid of a man who nursed a dirty cloak like a beloved child. Any fear she had dissolved. "Leave him alone, Neil. I'm sorry I called you."

Neil ignored her. He took matters into his own hands. He strode to the kitchen, lifted the phone, and punched 911.

Miranda sighed. "Prepare yourself, Kakashi. You're about to answer a zillion questions.'

"From whom?" He hovered at the deck door, arms clutching his cloak.

"The police." When he tipped his head and looked confused, she smiled. "Here, beyond the ice fields, we don't have an army in charge. We have what we call the police. In fact, if you listen, you should hear them any moment now."

He dropped his furs. With fluid grace, he drew his kunai. He looked as if he were preparing to confront an army. "What is a zillion?"

"A lot. Take it from me." Miranda sighed heavily at the distant wail of sirens on the sea air. It made her heart beat faster. She didn't want him arrested. She wanted him at her ball. "Now put the knife away."

"Kunai." Kakashi said out of habit.

"Right."

"Yo, bud. Take it easy." Neil encircled Miranda in his arms and put her behind him again.

As much as she appreciated the gallantry, it blocked her view. Robe open, blade in hand, the man looked so much like a ninja. Mask or not, there was no mistaking that arrogant sneer.

She whispered in Neil's ear, "He must have posed for those posters. Look at him. Really look at him." Her heart slammed in her chest-and not from fear.

The police hammered on her door. Neil jerked it open.

"Oh, no," she said with a groan. The man who stepped into her apartment was the last man on earth she wished to see. Her former boyfriend -now her older sister's husband. Talk about grand larceny. What the heck was the traitorous detective doing answering a routine call?

"Mira? Are you okay?" R . Walter Gordon stepped into her apartment. Two other officers stepped in behind him. There were no guns drawn, but Miranda knew that if Kakashi made a move, there would be.

"I'm fine. We really don't need you," she said, hands up, palms out. Her voice sounded shrill and peevish to her. This was her warrior. Nut case or not, she'd invited him into her apartment. If someone hurt him, she'd never forgive herself. "Just go away. Please."

"The guy's got a knife," Neil said.

The officers ignored her as they faced Kakashi. If they missed the knife, they must be blind. Relief came form an unexpected quarter. Kakashi turned his blade hilt out and offered it to Miranda; then he belted his robe and yawned. He scratched the back of his head. He looke like a harmless, sleepy guy who'd just climbed out of bed.

Oh, no. What would Walter think? And what story would he spread-like a bad flu virus-to her sister and her mother? She hugged Kakashi's knife to her chest as he had his furs. She acted without thought. She slid an arm around Kakashi's waist and hugged him close as well. "There nothing wrong here, Walter."

Neil gasped. Kakashi stiffened, but did not move from her embrace. It was like hugging a petrified tree.

Kakashi said, "This impertinent woman tried to take my cloak. The snake man overreacted. "This often seem to happen with poorly trained warriors."

She wanted to kick him in his perfect shins.

"What's going on here?" the detective asked.

"Neil? Who's watching the shop?" Miranda used her sweetest voice. "Could the customers be stealing us blind? Should we take the shortages out of your share of the profits?"

He took the hint and left the apartment.

She sank onto the sofa and rolled her eyes. She patted the place next to her and Kakashi joined her. He leaned back and crossed his arms on his chest.

Now he looked as if he'd spent a few hours in her bed-and shower. Wouldn't that fry Walter's mind?"

Judging from the questions Walter directed at Kakashi, there was little chance he'd arrest anybody. Instead, Kakashi received a severe lecture on waving weapons around. Miranda came into her share of censure, too. After a hiatus of three years, Walter was on a roll. She tuned him out as she had when they'd dated, nodding now and then, her mind uncomfortably occupied with the warmth of the man whose long thigh and hip pressed against hers.

One of the uniformed officers frequented her store. He eyed Kakashi with something akin to the look she saw on a rabid fans. When her ex ground to a halt, she introduced her guest to the officer.

"This is Kakashi from Konoha. He's my boyfriend." She enunciated every word in case Walter had missed the more subtle hints."

" A ninja from Konoha," Kakashi corrected.

"You're coming to the ball tonight, aren't you? You're sure to win a prize," the officer gushed.

"Prize?" Kakashi and Walter spoke simultaneously.

Miranda shot to her feet. Kakashi followed suit. "Sure, best costume. Finest weapon," she said as she tucked Kakashi's robe more securely about his waist. The man had no modesty. "That's why Kakashi was showing me his sword."

"Kunai," the three men said in unison.

She took the blade and put ito on top of her entertainment cabinet.

The officer thrust his notebook into Kakashi's hands. "How about an autograph?"

"Go on, give him your autograph," Miranda urged. Then they might leave. The sooner the better. Preferably before her Kakashi look alike said something to make Walter escort him to the funny farm.

End notes: So how was it.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: Enjoy!

Chapter 6:

Miranda sat abruptly down on the edge of the bathtub. What had she done? What had she unleashed on the unsuspecting female world? She licked her lips. He'd dozed off for only a moment when the devilish thought had burst into her head, and before she'd been able to stop herself, she'd acted on it. Now the Kakashi look-a-like was glaring at himself in the mirror, looking ready to strangle someone-her.

He swung around, fist on his hips. She clutched the edge of the tub. Oh, Lord, he was even more devastating in person than on any poster. There was something... intangible, slightly dangerous about him.

"Stop staring at me," he said between tightly clenched teeth.

"Huh?" she said. The room was suddenly way too small and way too hot.

"Not you, too."

Miranda's back stiffened at his haughty tone. It matched the haughty face she just recently uncovered. "I beg your pardon?" What does that mean? Not me, too?"

"I do not need-nor wish-your attention."

"Well!" She shot off her seat and ducked under his arm, escaping to the clearer air of the living room. All her pictures rocked askew as he thumped after her. " If that isn't the most conceited comment I've ever heard. I-I-I was just checking out the wound on your chin. It's terrible."

His hand went to his head. His haughty look vaporized to one of confusion. "My chin? Then why is my beard gone!"

"It was a pretty scruffy beard plus how am I going to get a good look at the wound in question. Here." She pulled out a chair. "Sit down and let me fix your hair. If I didn't know better, I'd say you really were crossing the ice fields-without a hat."

She whipped a comb out of her purse and separated the dry, broken strands of hair at his brow. She tried to ignore the fact that he was frowning at the center of her chest again. Of course the last time he'd stared at her chest, he fallen asleep-not much of a compliment.

"So what did you want in Atlantic City? she asked to distract him, but when he looked up, her hands fumbled at her chore. His charcoal color eye was fringed with dark lashes.

"I am seeking my friend Rin," he said, interrupting her thoughts on eyelashes.

"Of course you are. Makes perfect sense." Miranda mumbled sarcastically under her breath.

Kakashi continued on without comment on Miranda tone. " She possesses a dagger I must retrieve and return to the Hokage. I would not tell you this, except that I fear that without someone's assistance, I would become lost searching for Rin."

_She_ was lost, almost focused on the eerily red and black eye that made her think possible he really was Kakashi. But that was impossible and she shook the thought away.

"Uh, what? A dagger? What kind?" She forced her mind to focus on what he was saying. His hair was very thick and heavy in her hand, like skein of rough silk.

" A jeweled dagger. About this long." He spread his hands about a foot apart. "Tis just a trifling piece."

His board shoulders rippled as he shrugged and she almost sighed aloud. She knew the knife he wanted. Maggie her friend gave her a cryptic clue that one day someone would come looking for the dagger.

"If the dagger's is not worth much, then why do you want it?"

"That is not something I can tell an untrained woman." His eyes dropped to her chest again; his frown deepened . Despite the cold words, she did not sense that he was insulting her. Warrior rarely trusted civilians.

_Whoa. He is not from Konoha. He is not really looking for a dagger. He is--_ _What is he?_

a confused cover model sent from the agency? A wacky fan? Or.... An idea burst over her. Maybe he was payback.

Payback for inviting a gang of Naruto's cosplayers to her friends Maggie wedding. Maybe she and her husband were playing a practical joke on her-bent on making her think this guy was really from Konoha and then-zing-he'd whip out a cell phone and call them to tell them she'd been well and truly suckered.

The idea made more and more sense. Her friend had sworn vengeance. After all , the fans had been a tad disruptive at the wedding. Wondering why a Rin look-a-like was not marrying Kakashi look-a-like. So she'd forgotten to tell the group about the resemblance. So a fight broken out... Well, there was no way she was giving the Kakashi look-a-like the dagger and playing right into his practical-joking hands-not that they weren't really nice hands.

However, it might be fun to go along with the joke and somehow turn it back on Maggie and her husband.

"This knife you're seeking is it sacred?" she asked, smoothing his hair through her fingers, checking his body for a lump that might indicate a concealed cell phone. No. She'd seen him naked and taken his clothing away with her own hands.

"No, the dagger has no holy meaning."

"Okay. Don't tell me why the knife's important."

"Okay." He mouthed the word as if he were taking part in a language experiment. "What are you doing to my hair?" His eyes crossed to peer up at her hands."

"I'm trying to tame it."

"Sit still." She shoved down on his shoulders. It was like pressing on a steel girder. "There is no way I'm taking someone as messy as you to a ball."

Color heated her cheeks from her misplaced indignation. His head could have be shaved and he'd be spectacular.

Kakashi hair finally fell back into it standard place. Good old-fashioned common lust raced right through her. She bit her lip in determination. He was not going to be right. Women might fall over him, but she was not going to be one of them. _Ever_.

She made a decision; practical joker, agency model, or nut case, she would go along with his contention that he was Kakashi until the ball was over. Eventually he'd step out of his role, and she'd tell him she'd known what he was up to all along.

In the meantime, if she could get him to the Music Pier, her ball would go down in history as the best Naruto ball ever.

End Note: Okay this may not been the best chapter ever but I had to get a move on with the plot. Hopefully it was not to bad I promise it will get better. mnmonroe


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: I want to apologize that it has taken me so long to update. I will try to update more often. Hope you enjoy the next chapter.

Chapter 7:

Getting to the music pier with Kakashi was like walking a giant two-year-old. He jerked to halt for the fifth time, nearly pulling her arm from its socket.

"What is it this time?" a seagull he had to examine? A trash can he had to peer into, sniff, circle? a woman she had to peel off his arm?

She followed the direction of his intent gaze. A police cruiser was coming toward them on the boardwalk. She lifted her hand in greeting to one of the officers who'd come to her apartment earlier that afternoon.

Kakashi arm tensed beneath her hand. He did not move but she knew instantly that he was upset.

Cruiser slow down as the officer poke his head out the window. " You'll get a great crowd at your ball tonight, man wish I wasn't on duty."

"I'm sorry you can't be there, too. See you," She urge Kakashi the last steps to the Music Pier. "What;s wrong?"

He shook his head and took a last look at the police car.

"Nothing is wrong, but I do not understand what Konoha's most famous treasure is doing here- beyond the ice fields."

He was really good. Just the right touch of confusion. A soupcon of distress. The treasure idea was cute. "Well, why can't a treasure be here?" She asked. She could also tell he wasn't budging until he'd said what he had to say.

"Tis said in legend that the First Hokage buried eight treasures, with a challenge that any man who found them might know great wisdom. To my knowledge, no ninja has yet located the treasures, and yet located the treasure, and yet there is one of the." He turned around another time to stare after the police cruiser.

Miranda smiled. Any moment now, someone was going to jump out and yell, "Gotcha!" She just knew it. Were her friends hiding in the Music Pier restroom? Or across the way, tucked beneath the boardwalk?

This was a practical joke of the highest caliber. And her friends would really be disappointed if she didn't at least appear to believe this guy was from Konoha.

"Yes, yes the treasures of the Music Pier will take you wherever your heart desires, as long as you are pure of heart. Now move it. I'll melt if we don't get out of this rain."

"MELT?"

His voice dropped, and he examined her in a way that her feel hot but at the same time naked and exposed.

"Come on." She grabbed his arm and hauled him into the Music Pier. She took his cloak and tossed it behind the blue-and-gold stage curtain.

An hour later, Miranda rocked back and forth on her heels and she surveyed her ball. It was more than a successful; it was a megahit. Despite the downpour outside, the ballroom was wall-to-wall people.

He's great isn't he?" Miranda asked Neil. I thought he'd be completely overwhelmed by women. But he's just taken it all in stride. He's so charming. No matter how many of them want his autograph of want a photograph, he obliges."

Neil nodded. "Yeah, I guess they have photo shoots in Konoha all the time. But if takes another step back, he'll be cornered. And he keeps touching and turning the programs like he's never seen paper before."

Neil crossed his arms and leaned on the edge of the stage. His costume consisted of the clothes he'd worn that day to work-black jeans and a tee shirt. There was no getting Neil into Ninja garb-or out on the dance floor.

Her gaze went back to Kakashi again. She swayed and hummed to the music. Neil shock his head. "Somehow he doesn't look like the dancing type." He took her glass of punch and sniffed it. "How many cups of this have you had?"

"It's great, isn't it? Who made it? There's this spicy hint of-"

"It's spiked. Or it was," he said. "I took care of it, but some wicked warrior added little extra ingredient."

"Oops. I hope we don't get arrested." A giggle bubbled in her throat. " Imagine R. Walter storming in here and arresting us for spiked mead or whatever we're pretending it is."

"Yeah, well, Ocean City is dry- and R. Walter will never believe you didn't know the punch was spiked. Now, how many cups have you had? You're grinning like a fool."

"I only had maybe four...maybe eight cups."

"You'll feel great in the morning?" He shook is head and stalked off with her cup.

Kakashi did not enjoy the uncomfortable pang of jealousy that he felt whenever the snake man-Neil-?"May I have you autograph?" a tiny woman with hair a strange color that slight reminded him of Sakura.

With a slight look of annoyance, he wrote his name.

The snake man came to his side. "Miranda told me to see if I could help fend off some of these fans."

"Help me?" Kakashi frowned. "Everyone is very polite. I enjoy their conversation. They see to my comfort."

" Really? How many cups of punch have they brought you?"

"Punch?" In truth, he understood only one in every five words they said. But he was learning their language. _Carmel Corn, turmeric, quicke._ Each woman added to his vocabulary. "What is your status here, Neil? What is the meaning of the snake in this place?" _What harm could come from asking?_

I'm part owner of Miranda's shop. When my father died he left me a little money, and I used it to invest in Miranda's buisness. She wasn't doing so well after her husband-lifemate to you-died. She needed a partner and I need a job. And the tattoo means I was drunk one night and not thinking clearly-typical college state, I'm afraid. Other than that, don't read too much into it."

Kakashi took a deep breath, but kept himself from asking for a better explanation. Involuntarily, he looked about the room for Miranda. So she had lost a lifemate. It explained the contrast of wealth and poverty in her home.

These festivities did little but delay his mission. He kicked a boot at the polished floor. Snow lay over everything-or had until the loud one had opened the door. Sparkles radiated from glowing colored glass in the ceiling. His head ached. When he lifted his hand to his brow it trembled.

"You'd be perfect!" Liz Williams the photograph hired for the ball, yelled over the loud hum of conversation. " Come on.

" Where?" Miranda asked as Liz hauled her through the crowd.

"Over there!" She pointed vaguely towards the ceiling. " I need an ordinary woman to kiss that hunk in the corner. What a shot that will be- front-cover material."

"Whoa." Miranda skidded to a halt. "No way. I'm not kissing anyone."

Liz leaned down from her nearly six-foot height. "What's the matter with you? Think of the PR for Virtual Heaven. Not to mention an opportunity to lock lips with-"

Liz's words were lost as she hustled Miranda at a quick trot through a wall of people. "There he is!" Liz cried as she halted in front of a mob of women waving programs for Kakashi to sign. Miniexplosions of camera flashes reflected on the wall of windows behind him. So Liz was not the only women intent on a photo op.

"We'll need to stand on a chair to see over this crowd," she said to Liz.

"Watch this..." Liz's iron grip on Miranda's arm tightened as Liz used her elbows to hurl Miranda through the mass of women and into Kakashi's chest.

Kakashi grunted and closed his arms about her.

"Liz, I don't think-" Miranda began.

"Quick. Kiss each other . I don't have all night.

"Oh, sure I guess-"

His mouth closed on hers before she had a chance to react. All coherent thoughts washed away like a sand castle at high tide. His lips were firm and warm.

The room spun a bit, but his hands were there to catch her. He wrapped his arms around her, drew her against the hard length of his body. She felt a moan rise in her throat and had enough sense to clamp down on it.

He really knew how to kiss.

She thought of power and heat. Then she thought of nothing. Her mind zapped white for a brief instant; then her body zapped red hot.

His kiss was a long, lazy perusal of her lips. He tasted of caramel-covered popcorn. She lost all sanity. Giving no thought to who watched, she raised her hands and gripped his head. She drew him closer and bit his lower lip. With a jerk of his head, he responded; his hips moved against hers, and his arms tightened.

His mouth no longer explored; it pressed hard, crushed, possessed.

Miranda moaned softly, dug her fingers into his arms. Her arms slipped about his neck. She felt naked against him, every bone, every muscle defined.

A white-hot blade skewered his vitals . It twisted and dug so deep he gasped. The woman in his arms led him places he had only imagined. He followed. The path led to short breath, a rapid heartbeat, sweat on his brow.

_Now. End it now. Now... _

He spread his hands over her delicate bones of her back and held her closer

_End it. End it._

The words ran over and over in his mind.

He ended it. He put her away from him, safely at arm's length. His mouth ached. His loins throbbed.

She stared up at him, her lips half-open. Then she snapped them closed. "You're about as comfortable to kiss as as a stone wall."

So she was going to pretend she'd felt nothing? He unlaced his tunic and opened it.

An audible moan rose from the women surrounding him.

"Geez, keep your shirt on. These women are rabid," Miranda said. Her hands drew the edges of tunic together.

"You will protect me, I think," he said, and flicked her hands away. He drew out various colored lumps wrapped in smooth paper. "You flattened my sweets."

She burst into laughter. "You have saltwater taffy in your shirt?" her smile reminded him too much of the heat of her kiss.

"Yes," he said. "The women offered it. It would be unkind not to accept it." He felt as if he had some of the sticky goodness stuck in his throat.

"We crushed it, didn't we?"

In truth, the sweets were soft and warm from his body and hers. "You were overly fierce in your attentions."

"Me?" She smacked his arm. "You're the one who crushed me."

"I did nothing. You kissed me-"

"Now, children! Enough bickering!" Liz angled her camera between them. "Maybe you could open your shirt just a wee bit more..." Deftly, the loud women spread the shirt open, revealing his chest. "Boy, you must work out twenty-four-seven!"

Miranda was glaring in the strange woman's direction while the crowd of women flocked around her.

But before she could say anything a sudden hush fell over the crowd. Only the pulsing beat of the music continued. Miranda looked towards the door, in the direction of everyone's gaze.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

"I am sorry, my friend, " Rin said. "I will not be returning to Konoha."

Kakashi gripped the iron railing and felt waves of grief as huge as those splashing below wash over him. He had crossed the ice fields in vain and had known it since Miranda had mentioned that Rin was with child. Rin would never leave now since she had new life here. So be it. He would survive this as he survived so much else.

No one must ever know how he felt. No one. With a deep breath, he turned to his friend. "You not been here even one conjunction and already your speech is deteriorating-"

"Kakashi. You must listen. This is where I belong and possible where you belong too."

"No, do not try to convince me again to remain here with you. My honor lies in Konoha. If _you_ choose not to return, then it is left to me to prove you innocent."

"It doesn't matter. This matters! Here. Now. This place." RIn clamped a hand over his on the slick railing

Rin's hand on his reminded him too poignantly of years of friendship, and the years they served Konoha together. Now his life felt blasted in a furnace of betrayal.

"I'm sorry, my friend. I tracked them down and they're dead, but I could show you their graves."

"Graves? What use have I of graves?" Rin said.

Long moments of silence reigned between them. Rin continued finally. "You're not a traitor! Neither am I. This is where I belong. It is not dishonorable to follow what you know in your heart is right. One day you will understand."

"You are tied to man."

Rin nodded. " And the need I have for my new family. " Rin said while carefully placing her hands to her stomach. " The place doesn't matter, as long as I'm with Tom, and I know he's safe."

Kakashi shook his head in confusion until Obito face came to mind and then scowled in understanding. He sighed before speaking. "Then give me the jeweled dagger, and I will leave you to your chosen life." Every muscle in Kakashi neck ached. He wanted to lash out, to howl with the pain of finding his friend, but losing her at the same time.

Rin frowned. " So be it. I'll search for the dagger. I'm sure Tom must have it. I just sent him home this morning because his grandmother has a broken hip, and Tom wanted to help care for her. I know he would want me to take you out there to see him."

But Kakashi shook his head. He looked out at the sea. How far could he go and not be completely lost?"

"Kakashi, I'll find the dagger; I promise. But you must make a promise too."

"What promise do you desire of me?" Kakashi asked. How many promises had been made and broken in the name of friendship?

"If you won't come with me, stay here until I find the dagger. That's all."

Kakashi nodded. How long would he have to wait? Long enough to be seduced by the women, the strange food, the hypnotizing music, to want to remain? "Do what you must to find the blade. It is all I have to prove your innocence."

Miranda pressed her face to the window. Both woman and man were as rigid as soldiers at attention.

"I'm going out there." She jerked the door open and was nearly blown off her feet. Kakashi was at her side in an instant, shoving the door closed for her. "You're soaking wet- both of you. Kakashi's been ill. He shouldn't be out here." She had to shout over the wind and a low rumble of thunder.

"I am not returning to the festivities," Kakashi said. Something in his tone told her he meant it.

"Okay," she said. "We'll all go back to my place, then." She pointed to the gleam of light that was her apartment, a couple of blocks away.

Rin shook her head. "I can't stay. I have to go back to my place to look for something."

"Really?" Miranda braced herself for Tom to leap out of the shadows and yell "Surprise!" But that never happened.

"That's right. Kakashi can fill you in. Now I have to go secure something Kakashi needs for his quest."

With a sudden turnabout, Miranda smiled and clapped.

"You guys are really good. Superb. Do you do amateur theater back home?"

"We're not acting, " Rin said.

"Oh, sure. And he's really Kakashi." She swallowed a laugh.

"Yes. He is Kakashi," Rin said.

Author's Note: I'm hoping to upload another chapter tonight so keep a look out for it. Hope you enjoyed.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

Miranda could not change his mind about returning to Konoha after Rin left leaving a strange dagger in his hand. Not that he could get there from here.. He must still be taking his role seriously-or the pratical joke wasn't over. And at this exact moment, she was darned tired of it.

After turning the most recent Naruto episode , she trotted at his heel as he walked determinedly the video room. "Look," she said, still playing along. " I know you think this so called map in the sheath of the knife or whatever means that you can prove that both you and Rin were tricked."

" I will explain this one more time," he said. With great deliberation, he folded his cloak on the floor. "I was brought before the council and accused with Rin, of traitorous acts against Konoha. Rin was believed to have left Konoha with her slave and the knife. 'Twas claimed that Rin knew the knife's handle contained a map of the way through the ice fields."

"And why would they want to get past the ice fields?" She propped her elbow on the nearby chair. Her head pounded from too little sleep and too much punch.

"For what men have always craved-weapons. The best weapons. And the legends describe weapons of destruction beyond our imaginations-here, beyond the ice fields." He lifted a game gun. "This is a such a weapon. I have seen its like-once. And know of what it is capable."

With a look of contempt, he put the gun back down.

"The last thing we need is a weapon of such potency. But my honor demanded I regain the dagger with the map. It was Danzo charge. The reward? My name as well as Rin honor restored."

"This Danzo guy is evil right."

" He has a streak of evil...but he not what matters here."

"So if you do what he ask and found your way here, why do they need a map?"

"Many have set out on the journey to cross the ice fields; none have returned. A map would allow a legion to make the trek. And if the dagger had contained the route through the ice fields, then all they accused us of would have been true. They said Rin's father at one point was once enamored of a woman from the village hidden in snow. It was through her that the map came about. He kept it hidden through the years in the knife's handle. The council claimed that Rin's father died before he could make use of the map. And Rin was said to know of its existence. Now I know it was all lies, lies to conceal the council's real goal-the treasure."

"I have a headache." With a yawn, she plopped down on his coat. Playing this game was getting tedious. Tomorrow Mr. Ninja Boy was out on his tight buns if he didn't own up who he really was. "So go on. The council's greedy. What difference does it make which map you found?"

A very convincing hauter entered his voice. " Ninja do not seek treasure. The very idea is dishonorable. I was sent to bring back Rin and the dagger and prove our loyalty. It seems I was really sent to obtain a treasure map. If I had died doing so, they had lost only a man with a traitor's name." His voice dropped; his hand turned the dagger over and over. "They knew what it was they sought-something far more valuable than mere weapons. They lied to me."

"Maybe they didn't know what was in the dagger either." She might as well go along with him for few more hours. It was almost dawn. Another yawn overcame her.

He stepped closer to her and went down on one knee before her. "Miranda, I have allowed my anger to spill over on you a number of times. For that I am truly sorry. It is not my nature to be ill-mannered."

When he close his fingers around hers a tingle went down her spine. She pulled her hand away.

"You said I arrived here by magic. How does this magic work?" He gestured around him.

"The video should be ready let me just push this button."

His expression was impassive, his voice filled with emotion. " You called me stupid. You were right."

"Kakashi, I didn't mean it that way," When was he going to give up this charade? "It's just an expression."

"But still, 'twas stupidity to think the elders trusted me. Or that Rin would return." A crooked smile twisted his mask covered face, painting his face with pain.

He put out his hand.

Automatically she took it. His fingers tightened on hers. Heat whipped up her arm, across her shoulder, and down into her breast.

A whisper of thunder rumbled outside. Flames of pain hammered her hand, her arm, her chest.

"Kakashi," she said in a gasp as he disappeared in a blinding white light.

The dream was wonderful. A fresh breeze kissed her cheeks, and the scent of damp earth filled her nostrils. A few wispy clouds scudded across a lavender sky.

Lavender?

Miranda groaned and sat up. She felt the full punishment of spike punch. Kakashi stood ten feet away, hands on his hips, contemplating the landscape.

Or lack of it.

As far as Miranda could see, the world dropped off at his feet-a slightly purple world. She rose to her knee and scrabbled backward. Her stomach lurched.

Kakashi whipped around. "Ah you are awake." He strode to where she knelt, hooked a hand beneath her elbow and hauled her upright.

"No," she cried and jerked back. The world did drop off. The stood on a cliff.

"Be still," Kakashi ordered.

"No, I am not going to be still," she said slowly and distinctly. "I am getting as far from here as possible."

She went nowhere. Kakashi's grip could hold a tractor in place.

"And where would you go?"

The question confused her for a moment. She looked about. Behind her rose a steep mountain meadow, carpeted in emerald green and capped with fir trees. It could be any mountain in Pennsylvania or New York, but in front of her lay a vista as foreign as the moon. She knew she was in Naruto's world.

"How did this happen?" She asked, changing her mind about running away. She tucked herself against Kakashi's warm side instead. He smelled like home-caramel popcorn and dryer sheets. "I won't believe we're where we are. I won't. I'm dreaming. I'll wake up soon. I drank too much punch-"

"Enough." The word was a command, but it was kindly spoken. He hugged her against his side and swept a hand out to the land before them. "We are home."

Miranda squeezed her eyes close. "I'm not. I'm in a dream. My sky is blue My cliffs are out west. Ocean City is flat. I like flat. I'll wake up and laying in my bed, hoping Liz did a huge layout on my ball for her magazine."

"We must go."

"It's a cliff. I'm not going anywhere." The sky darkened from lavender to nearly black; an angry buzz filled her ears. Her knees buckled.

Kakashi scooped her into his arms. He hurried from the precipice's edge to a patch of mountain meadow. Carefully he laid her on the long grass. Her face was as white as her gown, as white as the tiny star-shaped flowers that clustered about her like errant flakes of snow.

He swallowed and shook off the temptation to kiss her awake. Kisses led to more problems, not fewer. He had kissed many a woman, but unlike those many kisses the kiss Miranda had given him at the ball still remained on his lips.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: (sort of a filler chapter) Enjoy

He went down on one knee and picked up her hand instead of kissing her. "Little one. Wake up." He chafed her wrist.

In the next moment, she rolled over and emptied her stomach into the grass.

"You are not very feminine," he said. he withdrew to allow her privacy for her suffering. Perhaps if he could make her angry, she would forget her discomfort. Anger chased other emotions away.

He had but a small ache behind his eyes from the strange journey, and whatever else he felt, the overwhelming feeling was exhilaration. He was home, in a place where all was familiar, where all made sense. Here-and nowhere else- he could reclaim his honor, his reason for being.

"I need a drink of water," she called out to him."

He turned around. She was sitting cross-legged, her gown tucked about her knees. Her face was almost its usual color. Wind riffled the short golden strands of hair on her forehead. She looked childlike and yet womanly at the same time.

"Come." He offered her his hand. She stared at it warily, then took it. He helped her rise, then steered her away from the cliff and up the mountain. "The village will have water, and medicine for your belly."

She trembled as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "I'm feeling better, but my mouth tastes like I ate your fur coat."

He smiled. Her humor was returning. She would survive. She stumbled. He tightened his hold on her and looked down. Her tiny feet were bare.

He lifted her into his arms.

"What are you doing? I can walk. The grass is nice and soft."

"You may be able to walk, but your pace will slow me down."

"And here I thought you liked me," she said.

When she wrapped her arms about his neck, he grinned. How well she fit in his arms. Then he lost his smile. It was liking her that complicated everything... liking the taste of her mouth...

"I like all women." Her arms loosened their grip."Your presence is a complication I can do without. The Hokage will see to your care and perhaps figure out a way to send you home."

Her body tensed in his arms. "You're going to leave me here? What's the point in that?"

"I did not ask you to come."

She arched and twisted in his arms, breaking his hold. He almost dropped her. She shrieked and pushed. He let her go.

"Are you mad?" He rubbed his neck where her sculpted nails had scratched him.

"Yes. I am mad. How dare you blame me for this? I didn't want to come with you. You held my hand. It's your fault I'm here."

Kakashi stared at her for a moment. He expelled a long breath. Like it or not, he was responsible for her safety.

"We will not argue who is at fault. You should have stayed in your chamber; I should have pushed you away. Now let us proceed." He held out his arms.

"I'll walk." With her little nose pointed into the air, she stalked off through the meadow.

The trees opened and there stood Konoha. They walked quickly down the street until they were at the center town and in front of the Hokage office. "Should we knock?"

He grinned at her as he pushed open the door. He inspected the room quickly and returned to Miranda who stood at the threshold.

"The hearth is cold and the ashes swept she must be away on a mission."

"What does that mean for us?"

Kakashi forced himself to remain impassive. The last thing he expected was for the Hokage to be away from the village since it was so rare. "There is another place I can look for her. Often she has to meet other village leader at a disclosed location."

"You meant we didn't you? We can go look for her. I'm not staying here alone."

Kakashi opened his mouth and then closed it. "You are ill equipped to sustain yourself. Evan the smallest child in Konoha can snare food, choose the proper herbs, catch-"

She held up her hand. "Enough. I get it. I'm incompetent to survive in the wilderness. So that why you should take me with you."

Kakashi sighed in resignation. "We must deal with your feet before you can make even the shortest journeys." He retreated to a few doors down and Miranda followed behind him. As she came closer she had to sidestepped the flurry of objects he tossed her way.

"Ohhh." She picked up a silvery trinket. It was a chain of large links that was too long to be necklace and might instead be a woman's belt. Every other link contained what appeared to be a ruby. "This looks like it belongs in a museum-in the ancient-stuff collection. It's beautiful."

Kakashi looked over his shoulder and shrugged. "Many are grateful to Konoha ninjas."

She stirred the growing pile of tributes with her toe." Some payment."

Dusting his hands on his thighs, he rose. "Try some."

An assortment of shoes and boots lay tangled in jewelry, leather belts, daggers, and cooking utensils. A few moments later, he fitted her on a side sword, and sled her feet into a pair of slightly heeled boots.

Kakashi touched her shoulder. "How does your belly feel? I am sorry there is no water or food to offer you here at this time."

"What are we going to do? How am I going to get back to Ocean City? All I wanted to do was apologize. I felt really bad about calling you stupid. I was unkind. And now..." She paused and licked her full lips. " I see that all you said was true. This place does exist. I'm so, so sorry, and-"

"Enough. I do not need your apologies." She looked pathetically small and out of place. She was out of place, he reminded himself, as out of place as he had felt in Ocean City.

He shoved the remaining objects back into the closet. "I am leaving."

Without a backward glance, he turned and went through the doors.

"Wait for me," she called, stumbling in her haste as she followed him. "Where are we going?"

"First, to find you water. Second, we will seek out the Hokage's secret cave. Maybe we will be lucky and she'll be there and not on a mission out of the country."

"I'm not very fond of caves."

Kakashi shrugged. "I, too, do not care much for caves. They are dark, wet, and ofttimes inhabited by creatures."

"When you say creatures, just what do you mean?"

"Within the cave or without?"

"Oh, let's start on the outside." She had to hurry to keep pace with him, as his stride was almost twice hers. Low brush caught at her hem, hampering her movement, but he did not pause to accommodate her.

"The Gulap range these mountains, feline, fierce, and black of heart."

"Remind me not to run into one of them." She glanced over her shoulder, anxiety written on her small features.

He placed a hand on her shoulder. " A Gulap wants only the sweetest morsels-you are safe. And also we have snakes, much like the one about our snake man's arm."

"That's Neil, please." A cold wind swirled about them. Miranda gathered her nightgown closer to her legs." Geez, it's cold here. I might as well be naked.

Naked. He did not want to think of her naked, either. "Other creatures you must fear are men. S-class criminal range these foothills often."

"You do know how to use that knife, don't you?"

Kakashi made an impatient gesture with his hand. "You would do better to be wary of men rather than the woodland creatures."

"Slow down. I feel dizzy. Anyone with...any...sense..."

She stopped as if rooted to the hillside. Without a sound, she fell to her knees. Her eyes rolled up into her skull. Her lips moved, but no sound came out.

"Mira?" Kakashi caught her as she slipped into unconsciousness. He touched her forehead. It was damp and cold, as were her hands. Gently he lifted her into his arms.

The rest of the trek took twice as long as Kakashi would have like, and it had nothing to do with the womanly burden in arms. Once he needed to backtrack and take another ancient path. Few feet trod the way to the Hokage's cave, and marker were nonexistent.

He came to a tumble of rocks in the hillside. The rocks were reddish in color. He placed Miranda on the ground next to a small stream. Using the hem of his cloak, he soaked it and touched it to her cheeks. As he drew the cool cloth over her lips, she moaned and stirred.

"Kakashi?" she whispered. "Are you trying to get in my bed again?"

"No, woman. And it was you who tried to get into my bed."

Miranda sat up and pressed her hand to her temples. "Oh my head." She looked about and up at the brilliant amethyst sky.

He watched tears well in her eyes and down her cheeks.

"I thought it was a dream."

Kakashi crouched on his haunches. "We have no time for your tears."

She wiped at her cheeks. "Well, I do! I'm thirsty. My head hurts. I'm in my nightgown in a stupid, purple place."

"Stupid? Did you not just offer your apology for speaking thusly to me?" He cupped his hand in the icy water and offered it to her. " Typical of a woman. I should have known your words meant nothing. You withheld the dagger. And now..."

Miranda ignored his outstretched hands and crawled to the low stream bank. She scooped up the cool water, splashed it on her face, and gulped it down.

"Sorry. I feel like a petulant child, but I can't help it. I was calling this place stupid, not you," she said. "I can't believe you're still miffed about the dagger. I did apologize. I told you, I thought you were playing a hoax on me. How was I to know you really were Kakashi and needed that knife? Can't you put that behind you?"

He looked over his shoulder. "What? Put what behind me? You speak in riddles."

"It's an expression that means accept my apology."

Somehow her words did nothing to assuage the bubbling irritation he felt. "Your words come too late. Now move." He took her arm.

She stumbled along with him. The followed the stream downhill for a least a mile longer. As they hurried along, Miranda paused repeatedly to exclaim over the delicate ferns and tiny, bright red flowers nestled by the water's edge.

Finally he halted. Miranda rubbed her arms where he'd held her.

"Are you recovered yet?" he asked as she wayed and stumbled for the tenth time.

"Things are a little blurry still, and my head pulses with every step, but don't let that hold you up."

She planted her feet into the soft, muddy banks. "That's a slit, not a cave. I'm not going in there."

He sighed. "You will find it opens up almost immediately, once inside...or so they say."

"Who's 'they'? Elves?"

His eyes narrowed. "Elves?" What are elves?"

"Little magical people."

"We have small people, but they have no special powers.

He reached out and skimmed his thumb over her cheek, rubbing a red spot high on her cheekbone. She sighed, the sound stirring a memory of the small sigh she'd given in response to his kiss. "I am sorry you are cold. I will give you my cloak."

Her small hands wrapped around his, preventing him from removing the cloak. "No absolutely not. You can't give me your cloak . You'll freeze.

The heat of her hands held him immobile. A mad desire to clasp her hands tightly against his belly sept through him, but the she jerked them away. "I hear a voice behind us."

"The cave is empty." Kakashi sighed and turned his attention to behind them when he noticed that Miranda was right.

They moved quietly along the curving rocky wall. Ahead loomed a tons of foliage and the river that just kept going. Miranda shielded her eyes from the sun; just when out of the shadows stepped a woman.

End Note: This is sort of a filler chapter. The next chapter will have more action. Be patient with me. I did not want to jump into the next adventure quite so fast. Hope you still enjoyed though.


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